


But Where's The Ball?

by beltloop



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:07:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23629747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beltloop/pseuds/beltloop
Summary: the roller derby AU nobody asked for
Relationships: Oikawa Tooru/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	But Where's The Ball?

**Author's Note:**

> this is entirely self indulgent and i'm in quarantine and wishing practice wasn't cancelled. hope this doesn't out me to any derby haikyuu weebs  
> i don't know who all im going to add but it's only 2nd and 3rd years. 1st years are now 3rd years in hs, idk ships either idfk im winging it

Suga, excited for a night out for the first time in months, was so ready for a drink when he stepped into the bar to meet his date. What he wasn’t ready for, was for the bar to be absolutely packed and louder than it should ever be at 11pm. 

He stopped at the doorway, hesitating as he scoped the room. It wasn’t a small place, there’s a dance floor with karaoke(currently occupied with a woman singing The Cranberries), a long bar with 3 or 4 bartenders who were obviously overwhelmed, tables all completely full, and dozens of people standing in groups and against the bar. He’s not even sure he would be able to get to the bar. 

And no sign of his date. 

It would be rude if Suga left without at least waiting for a few minutes in case tinder date number… who-knows was just late, so Suga took a deep breath before trying to squeeze past a couple of women in matching, unfamiliar jerseys and shorts that were--wow. Suga looked back at them and, wow, those were some short shorts. Volleyball shorts were one thing he was used to, but this was a new level. 

He decided he’s not mad about it. 

Waiting behind a bunch of nameless people at the bar, he felt the weight of the crowd starting to weigh on him. Usually he’d be fine in these situations if he had someone with him that he knew, but he didn’t recognize anyone except-- Suga squinted as a flash of blonde hair flew past, holding up a tray littered with shots. She was wearing the same jersey as the other girls and carrying the tray to a table of her teammates as they cheered. She looked familiar… Tanaka’s sister? 

The guy in front of him at the bar got his drink, stepped to the side, and Suga was grateful to finally be faced with the bartender.

“Suga-san!” 

Who… was Tanaka, himself. 

Suga didn’t hide his surprise. “Tanaka-kun? I didn’t know you were a bartender here.” 

Tanaka grinned. He looked good, Suga admitted to himself; the sides of his hair were shaved but the middle was spiked up in a black mohawk and piercings lined his ears with a ring hanging off of his lower lip. “I don’t, really. Just helping my sister out tonight; they get swamped on game nights here.”

“Game nights?” It was a little hard to hear, but Suga was intrigued and leaned closer to listen better.

“Dude, yeah! She skates for Tokyo Roller Derby. I invite you to her games all the time on Facebook! What do you want to drink?” 

A flash of guilt passed through Suga. He had definitely ignored one or ten of those invites, remembering all the non committal ‘maybe’s he sent without following through. He gave Tanaka his drink order and apologized. 

“Don’t worry Suga-san, I get it.” Tanaka laughed, starting to make his drink. “But you should come out next time! It’s fucking fun. Plus, look at them.” He gestured to a group to the side and Suga's gaze followed. A few vaguely familiar faces were there plus a lot of unfamiliar ones, all in those jerseys. They were laughing and dancing, looking sweaty and bruised up but not even caring, just having a goddamn blast. He recognized a tall blonde girl as Lev’s sister as well, who grabbed a shorter red haired girl’s hand and was spinning her on the dance floor. And he caught a glimpse of a very familiar face through the crowd.

He almost missed Tanaka handing him the drink as he looked back at his underclassman in shock. “Was that Oikawa?!” 

Tanaka laughed at him. “Bro… you have some catching up to do. I need to keep working-- go say hi to Nee-san, she asks about you!” 

Suga was stunned at how nonchalant Tanaka was about the other, but accepted his drink and gave him his card, leaving his tab open. 

With his drink, he made his way through the crowd, scoping it out every now and then for the guy he was supposed to meet to no avail. He found his way over to Saeko and it was so loud, she didn’t hear him when he said hi and had to tap on her shoulder. 

She turned and yelled in excitement, obviously a little drunk. She wrapped Suga up in a hug and picked him up, squeezing him a bit too tight and Suga worried that his drink was going to spill. “SUGA-CHAAAN!” She put him down, beginning to poke at his arm, cheeks flushed. “Did you come watch our game? What did you think!? It’s been so long!” 

“Ah..” He sheepishly scratched at his face. “Sorry, Saeko-san, I didn’t realize it was tonight but I’m going to make an effort to go to the next one.” 

“Pfff-- call me Nee-san! And that’s okay, but you better come next time!” She gave him a stern glare and Suga was surprised at the authority she held for a moment before she broke it off with a laugh. “Were you meeting someone here then? Orrrrrr…” She leaned in close, elbowing him with a grin, “do you need Nee-san’s help with a date?” 

Suga felt the weight of his phone in his pocket and smiled politely. “Thank you, but I am meeting someone! He’s just not here yet, I think.”

Saeko registered this information and hummed, leaning back as she looked Suga up and down. He suddenly felt like a piece of meat and took a long sip from his drink. “Well,” Saeko began, “I hope he shows up soon! Let me know if you change your mind; I’ve got a whole gang of thirsty boys who would looove you~” 

Suga had no idea what she meant by that and apparently wasn’t going to get an explanation because the karaoke song suddenly changed and she lit up, grabbing her closest teammate and yanking her to the dance floor. “Suga-chan, catch up later!”

Aaand, Suga was alone again. There were women around him on all sides, Saeko’s teammates, but he didn't know them. He checked his phone, taking a long sip from his drink. Still nothing from tinder-guy. Someone tapped him on his shoulder and he looked up, suddenly finding himself face to face with Oikawa. 

“Well, if it isn’t Refreshing-kun,” The man purred, looking down at Suga with a slight blush on his cheeks, visibly a little drunk. Suga was floored. 

It had been two years since high school and since the last time he had faced off with Oikawa from across the net, but he still held just as much charm and poise as he did before, if not… more. His shoulders were broader and he had just a little more height, just a little more maturity to his face. He was wearing a matching jersey as the derby girls, but it fit more like their volleyball jerseys than the women’s skin-tight tanks. And not Aoba Johsai green, but a lighter, more blue color. It looked good. He looked good. And he noticed Suga staring and stared back, drinking him right in. “What are you doing here?” Oikawa sniffed, lifting an eyebrow curiously.

Suga felt vulnerable under his stare, Oikawa’s eyes seeming like they were evaluating him more than anything. He didn’t know what possessed him to blurt out, “Getting stood up on a first date,” admitting it to Oikawa before even coming to terms with it himself. Not the first time he’d been stood up-- tinder wasn’t the best for meeting people, but the fact that Suga just admitted that to his rival… he felt his face heat up and hid behind his drink, taking another long sip of it. He needed to be at least a little drunk for this. 

Oikawa’s surprise briefly broke through his skeptical expression before he looked away and gestured to Suga’s near empty drink. “Guess I better get you a new drink then, huh, Refreshing-kun?”

\---

And that’s how Suga ended up seated at a high table across from Oikawa Tooru of all people in a busy ass bar(which was slowly dwindling down as it got later), with Tanaka bringing them drink after drink, waggling his eyebrows at his senpai in a weird, encouraging way. Suga didn’t get it.

But he’d gotten a little drunk and Oikawa hadn’t stopped talking for a few minutes now, only egged on by more of Suga’s questions about roller derby. He’s found out that a lot of volleyball players from high school that didn’t get to go to school, or didn’t make the team, or just didn’t have the commitment for school sports, joined the local men’s roller derby team, which, Suga didn’t even realize existed. Women’s roller derby made sense, and Oikawa apparently coached Tokyo’s women’s team, but men’s derby? Suga didn’t get the appeal. 

But he was surprisingly passionate about it. Apparently, Oikawa didn’t make the university’s volleyball team because of his knee, which Suga felt massively sympathetic for. It was a damn shame, all of that talent gone to waste… but after sitting across from him and listening to Oikawa talk about roller derby, it seemed like he didn’t even grieve for his volleyball career at all. His eyes were sparkling and his hands were waving around as he talked, eager to spill his guts about the sport. 

Suga didn’t understand what Oikawa was getting out of giving him all this attention until Tanaka joined them, setting three shots down on the table. They each picked one up and clinked them together in cheers before downing them back. Then, Tanaka grinned at Suga and asked, “So, are you coming?” 

Suga blinked. He had already missed the game tonight. “To what?” 

“Practice on Sunday.” 

Oikawa leaned forward, elbows on the table and fingers laced together with his chin set on top. “Suga-chan,” he started, “you told me you’re not playing volleyball at the university... and I think you’d like skating. We could use someone like you on our team; you have a way of bringing people together.”

Tanaka enthusiastically nodded in agreement. Suga had never imagined the two of them getting along so well.

“I don’t even know how to skate...” 

“Suga-san, do you think I could skate? Look at me.” Tanaka gestured to himself.

Suga was blatantly skeptical. Yes, it did look like Tanaka could skate. That was a bad point.

“Besides, we’ll teach you. We have some skates you can borrow.”

“C’mon, Suga-chan,” Oikawa pouted, batting his eyelashes at him. “Please?” 

Suga wasn’t sure if it was Oikawa’s stupidly pretty face, or the peer pressure of Tanaka eagerly grinning at him, or that one shot after 4 incrementally stronger drinks, but he ended up huffing, saying, “I’ll check it out. But no promises on skating.”

And that’s how Suga ended up accepting a slip of receipt paper from his ex-rival with a time and address on it, and to his disappointment, no phone number.

**Author's Note:**

> @roymeowstang on twitter i fell out of fandom and miss having an oisuga group. i accept all derby name suggestions


End file.
